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Commitments and Contingencies
9 Months Ended
Nov. 30, 2021
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies
Note 8 - Commitments and Contingencies

Legal Matters

We are involved in various legal claims and proceedings in the normal course of operations. We believe the outcome of these matters will not have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial position, results of operations or liquidity, except as described below.
Regulatory Matters

As a global company, we are subject to U.S. and foreign regulations, including environmental, health and safety laws, and industry-specific product certifications. Many of the products we sell are subject to product safety laws and regulations in various jurisdictions. These laws and regulations specify the maximum allowable levels of certain materials that may be contained in our products, provide statutory prohibitions against misbranded and adulterated products, establish ingredients and manufacturing procedures for certain products, specify product safety testing requirements, and set product identification, labeling and claim requirements. Additionally, some of our product lines within our Health & Home segment are subject to product identification, labeling and claim requirements, which are monitored and enforced by regulatory agencies, such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (the “EPA”), U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

In our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for our first quarter of fiscal 2022, we disclosed that we were in discussions with the EPA regarding the compliance of packaging claims on certain of our products in the air and water filtration categories and a limited subset of humidifier products within the Health & Home segment that are sold in the U.S. The EPA did not raise any product quality, safety or performance issues. As a result of these packaging compliance discussions, on May 27, 2021, we voluntarily implemented a temporary stop shipment action across this line of products in the U.S. as we worked with the EPA towards an expedient resolution. In July 2021, the EPA approved modest changes to our labeling claims on packaging of existing water filtration products, which we implemented, and subsequently began shipping in limited quantities during the second quarter of fiscal 2022. The shipping volume for these products has continued to increase and, in September 2021, we returned to a more normalized level of shipping activity. In August 2021, the EPA approved changes to our air filtration packaging and we implemented a repackaging plan. We began shipping limited quantities of the impacted products at the end of August 2021 and returned to a more normalized level of shipping activity in November 2021. We have also resolved the majority of the packaging compliance concerns on the limited subset of humidifier products and do not expect them to have a material impact on our consolidated financial results. Our consolidated and Health & Home segment’s net sales revenue, gross profit and operating income for the nine months ended November 30, 2021, have been materially and adversely impacted by the stop shipment actions and the time needed to execute repackaging plans after changes were approved by the EPA. While we have resumed normalized levels of shipping of the affected inventory, we are still in process of repackaging our existing inventory of affected products. If we are not able to execute our repackaging plans on schedule to meet demand, our net sales revenue, gross profit and operating income could continue to be materially and adversely impacted. At this time, we are not aware of any fines or penalties related to this matter imposed against us by the EPA. While we do not anticipate material fines or penalties, there can be no assurances that such fines or penalties will not be imposed.

During the first quarter of fiscal 2022, we recorded a $13.1 million charge to cost of goods sold to write-off the obsolete packaging for the affected products in our inventory on-hand and in-transit as of the end of the first quarter of fiscal 2022. During the second and third quarters of fiscal 2022, we incurred additional compliance costs of $3.0 million and $4.9 million, respectively, comprised of incremental warehouse storage costs and legal fees of $2.6 million and $4.6 million, respectively, which were recognized in SG&A, and storage and obsolete packaging charges from vendors of $0.4 million and $0.3 million, respectively, which were recognized in cost of goods sold. These charges are referred to throughout this Form 10-Q as “EPA compliance costs.” In addition, during the second and third quarters of fiscal 2022, we incurred and capitalized into inventory costs to repackage a portion of our existing inventory of the affected products and expect to continue to incur and capitalize such costs as we continue to repackage the remainder of the inventory during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022. We also expect to incur additional compliance costs, which may include incremental freight, warehouse storage costs, charges from
vendors, and legal fees, among other things. Such potential incremental EPA compliance costs will be expensed as incurred and could materially and adversely impact our consolidated and Health & Home segment’s gross profit and operating income. In addition, our net sales revenue could be materially and adversely impacted by customer returns, an increase in sales discounts and allowances and by the potential impact of distribution losses at certain retailers. Additional impacts or more pronounced adverse impacts may arise that we are not currently aware of today. Accordingly, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be adversely and materially impacted in ways that we are not able to predict today. For additional information refer to Part I, Item 2., “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” including “EPA Compliance Costs” and to Part II, Item 1A., “Risk Factors” included within this Form 10-Q.